Chris Walsh showed his dismay at Basildon Council's 'lack of action' over Hovefields in open letter.

Chris Walsh, 36, expressed his dismay in an open letter to Basildon Council after its officers "did nothing" as more than 600 tonnes of rubble was dumped by 30 lorries to lay the base of a new illegal traveller site on green belt land just a stone's throw from his parents' home in Wickford, Essex.

On Monday, Express.co.uk exclusively revealed how the Hovefields Residents Association, which his parents belong to, had pleaded with the council to act after warning the authority that travellers bragged how they would throw up the site over the weekend.

It has been dubbed "Dale Farm Mark 2" after the infamous illegal site which was demolished by the same council in 2011 after a decade-long planning battle.

Mr Walsh, the MD of a headhunting firm, wrote: "I am writing to you as a concerned citizen, highly concerned son, and honest, hardworking taxpayer regarding the atrocious treatment of my pensioner parents, and their settled resident neighbours at the hands of Basildon Council and their (from what I can garner) hopelessly inept planning team.

"I am sorely tempted to take a dumper truck full of hardcore and deposit it outside of Basildon Council's offices.

"I wonder what your response to that would be? Would you stand by and allow it as you are doing in this case?"

The smaller Hovefields site has around 15 fully legal traveller pitches, which have been transformed into sizeable bungalows, but around 25 illegally-built ones were destroyed by the council from 2005 to 2010.

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Fencing work taking place today at one of the plots formerly cleared by Basildon Council.

The situation heightened last weekend when five brand new pitches were thrown up on a field, despite much of the area being banned from development by a High Court injunction, enforcement and stop notices and article 4 directives, which prevent even fences going up.

Fences were being put up in another area on a previously-cleared pitch today.

Mr Walsh added: "The area is subject to massive illegal development. Travellers have started to re-develop land that is subject both to previous eviction, and current injunction to prevent further development.

"As of this morning, fence posts and plots are being erected on land north of Hovefield Drive.

"I will not allow this to happen to my parents and their neighbours again.

"It took Basildon Council the better part of 11 years to clear this site of unapproved developments.

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Chris Walsh believes Basildon Council has let down his parents over the illegal development.

I am sorely tempted to take a dumper truck full of hardcore and deposit it outside of Basildon Council's offices. "I wonder what your response to that would be? Would you stand by and allow it as you are doing in this case?

Chris Walsh

"You have said you are “powerless” to stop this current development.

"You act as if this has somewhat snuck up on you overnight.

"My parents and the local resident association have been notifying you since AUGUST 2016!

"You have repeatedly assured them that you are on top of the situation and would take appropriate action where necessary.

"This clearly hasn’t been the case."

He pointed to five occasions from November when residents had “alerted the council to suspected illegal development around them”.

Travellers who flout the High Court injunction could be imprisoned for contempt of court, but the council has yet to issue any proceedings.

The former Dale Farm camp, once the biggest illegal site in Europe, was just two miles from Hovefields as the crow flies, and housed up to 500 people.

It was illegally expanded from 2001, and there was a decade of legal battles, before the council spent more than £7million on a forced clearance.

A council spokesman said: "Officers have viewed the area to assess the most recent unlawful development that has taken place, in order to consider appropriate further enforcement action.”

A caravan burns at Dale Farm in Essex where supporters have clashed with bailiffs

Phil Turner, leader of the council, said: “Basildon Council completely shares the frustrations and concerns of residents in the Hovefields area about recent incidents of unauthorised development.

“We want to assure residents that the council is using every legal option available to it in an attempt to prevent planning breaches.

“We have already taken strong enforcement action and used the resources and powers available to us as a local planning authority to their fullest extent.

“However, there are limits to these powers, and while we would like to be able to do more – and do it more quickly – we have to follow proper process if we want to secure a lasting solution.

“We are calling on central Government to put the law right to give us emergency powers to take immediate action to stop the misery being suffered by residents and stop our thin resources being stretched.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: "We are aware of an unauthorised traveller development on land near Hovefields Avenue.

"We are liaising with the local authority and will continue to monitor the situation."